Privacy Policy

MIDWEST ENERGY COOPERATIVE POLICY NO. B 17

Privacy Principles for Member-Consumer Information

With all of the technological advances in recent years, privacy of personal information has become a major issue. We recognize the importance of that issue and have a policy in place to help protect your privacy. If you have any questions, please call your co-op office at 1-800-492-5989.

I. OBJECTIVE:

Midwest Energy Cooperative is a consumer-owned and consumer-controlled electric cooperative. Midwest Energy Cooperative operates on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of its member-consumers. Accordingly, the Board has adopted this Policy on Privacy of Member-Consumer Information to establish fair information principles for Midwest Energy Cooperative in carrying out its responsibility to respect the privacy of personally identifiable information about member-consumers.

II. CONTENT:

A. Notice: Midwest Energy Cooperative publicly discloses its policies and practices for the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information about member-consumers.

B. Trust: Midwest Energy Cooperative maintains information about member-consumers suitable for its operations and for the benefit of its member-consumers. It collects personally identifiable information only by fair and lawful means and for appropriate purposes. It maintains the information in an accurate, complete, and timely manner as necessary for the purpose for which the information is to be used. Member-consumers may examine service, billing, and capital account information about themselves and may correct any inaccurate, incomplete, or untimely information. Member-consumers can accomplish this by contacting the cooperative office.

C. Security: Midwest Energy Cooperative maintains member-consumer information with reasonable and appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect against foreseeable hazards such as loss, unauthorized access, destruction, misuse, modification, and improper disclosure.

D. Member Information:

1. Use and Disclosure: Midwest Energy Cooperative uses and discloses personally identifiable information about member-consumers in responsible ways to carry out its operations. It uses identifiable information in support of affiliated subsidiaries that add to the financial well being of the member-consumers of Midwest Energy Cooperative. It allows member-consumers to exercise denial of disclosure of personal information to affiliates offering new products and services. Any member-consumer wishing to deny use should contact the cooperative office to exercise this right of choice. The cooperative does not sell, rent, loan, exchange or otherwise release mailing lists or telephone lists of member-consumers to non-affiliates for any reason.

2. Election: The membership list will be made available for viewing to the candidates for the Board of Directors. Viewing of the list will be restricted to the Cooperative office and any mailings that the candidate may want done shall be done by the Cooperative at the candidate’s expense.